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Following on from the first Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor (AATM) released in 2018, the 2019 report is the second flagship document to assess the emerging and long-term trends and drivers behind Africa’s regional and global trade in agricultural products.
A joint initiative of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and CTA, the 2019 AATM aims to examine two key points: 1) the effectiveness of regional trade initiatives in boosting economic integration and intra-African trade; and 2) the potential impact of broader integration on the continent’s trade performance in the context of emerging protectionism. The publication is thus timely, following both the recent launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiative in May 2019, which is expected to increase intra-African trade by 52% by 2022, and in light of the rising protectionist tensions between China and the US.
“The report makes clear that the AfCFTA is central to addressing many of the policy challenges associated with economic integration and agricultural trade that African countries face today,” says Ousmane Badiane, IFPRI’s director for Africa. “By reducing all trading costs, AfCFTA has the potential to spur growth through intraregional trade expansion, thus improving food security, diversifying the production base, and helping African producers to move up value chains,” he continues.
While the AfCFTA is seen as a ‘game changer’ that will deliver deeper regional integration and spur economic growth through the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers on most goods, among other developments, the report warns that Africa stands to lose out if the current protectionism policies and other trade barriers become more widespread globally. On the other hand, according to the authors of Chapter 5, the China-US trade war could work in Africa’s favour if the continent can take advantage of the changing patterns in global agricultural markets, and tensions remain confined to China and the US.
With regards to getting insight into Africa’s agricultural trade, access to – and the quality of – international statistics from this sector is reportedly limited. To address this problem and provide policymakers and development practitioners with an accurate estimate of trade in Africa, and worldwide, the publication’s authors created an analytical database based on the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. The data provides information on bilateral trade for 195 countries or groups of countries from 2005 to 2017.
Overall, while intraregional trade is still low compared to other regions of the world, according to the AATM findings, Africa has great potential to expand, especially with investments in trade-related infrastructure and improvements in policy. And, while growth in Africa’s agricultural imports has continued to outpace export growth, the agricultural trade deficit has been on the decline since 2012. The report highlights how the AfCFTA has the potential to accelerate regional and continental trade integration and foster industrialisation, thus improving food security, diversifying the production base and helping African producers move up the value chains.
This post first appears on SPORE (CTA) website.


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The rise of digital lending – will Nigerian credit bureaus evolve?
In the past few years, Africa has witnessed a surge in the demand and supply of credit products, especially across retail. Notably, “digital lending” and “fintech” have become both buzzwords and actual technology revolutionizing banking services. In 2019, users can, through an app and without any physical confirmation, get loans via their smartphones in mere minutes. Decades ago this would have been considered impossible. But as technology evolved, data science and machine learning became applicable technologies at scale, and the path to previously unfathomable ease of transactions was suddenly opened. Digital companies could leverage technology to give users loans in real time, utilizing telephone data at exponential scales, something traditional banks continue to struggle to do.
As this sector evolves, a critical player seems absent from the innovation happening in this industry: Credit Bureaus(CRBs). The history of credit bureaus date back to the late 80’s in Nigeria and just like digital lending is burgeoning today, traditional lending prevailed and the problem of serial delinquent debtors taking advantage of the disconnected system became a menace. Debtors would take loans from one bank even after defaulting in another. Soon, creating a central system every bank could connect to and check a user’s credit history before giving out loans, became critical. Thus, Credit Bureaus were born and were indeed successful in abating serial bad debtors.
Evolution of Credit Bureaus
In today’s era of lightning quick transaction speeds powered by the internet and APIs, credit assessments can be done digitally without checking centralized credit score databases. The sheer volume of alternative data via smartphones has allowed retail lenders thrive irrespective of CRBs. So, what then, is the value proposition of a traditional credit bureau?
Ease of access to credit at retail levels for individuals and small and micro businesses is a critical pillar of the general health of an economy, and also an important index in how the World Bank measures a country’s Ease of Doing Business. This criteria makes sense because if an economy does not facilitate easy access to capital; a critical component in creation of businesses and their survival, doing business in said economy would most likely be challenging.
With the retail sector in focus, Credit Bureaus are a critical pillar to opening up the lending market to players who do not have alternative data credit scoring competencies but have financing capabilities. For Nigeria to tackle the access to credit enigma, it needs numerous players leveraging technologies. Asides from data science, access to a central credit system is a great lever towards democratising access to loans.
Credit Bureaus in the digital economy now again, need to play the same role they have always performed — create an environment where credit history of users is readily accessible. However, they need to adapt their decades old approach to creating such an environment to address the nuances of the modern era. Currently, the relevance of Nigeria’s Credit Bureaus is limited to the commercial banking population, but has so much potential to build relevance within the retail segment which arguably is the future of banking.
With over 60% population unbanked and underbanked in Nigeria, this is a new segment of customers who might take smaller loans through digital lenders, and most will be first time credit customers. If CRBs are not designing new solutions with these new customers in mind, their overall relevance to this segment will be non-existent in a few years.
Building for A New Base Of Customers
According to the CBN, the profile of customers credit bureaus have been historically mandated to check and report, before and after disbursing a loan are borrowers of amounts N1,000,000 and above (principal + interest). However, this poses a problem today as retail loans range from as low NGN 1,000 to amounts well below N1 million.
Therefore, a huge section of retail borrowers do not fall within the scope of existing credit bureaus, do not have sufficient data collected on their activity, and consequently, do not have their creditworthiness measured.With the exponential growth of retail lenders, Credit Bureaus must evolve to retain relevance and begin to serve a new segment of lenders. This means aggressively and proactively leading the charge on connecting to digital lenders, leveraging on their exponential growth. Without doing this, CRBs will struggle to maintain their relevance down the line, However, before embarking on this mission, CRBs must ensure that their technology is capable of withstanding not just current, but future scale of transactions.
Services Driven By Technology
For traditional banks, the current flow of checking for a credit report is via email. If a Banking Officer wanted to confirm the credit status of a potential borrower, she would have to send an email to a CRB, who will then typically provide a credit report in a matter of days. Although this may seem efficient compared to the system used in the 80s, it simply will not work for a time as this, especially with retail lending.
There is simply no space for this flow for the highly digitized efficient, quick and exponential volumes of transactions happening in the space of retail lending. To compete, technology needs to be at the core of CRB service offerings, not simply used as a crutch. Technology must drive everything.
There is a world not too far from now where lenders in aggregate, request credit checks for tens of millions of customers in seconds, with responses expected in fractions of a second. CRBs must have technology capable of handling these volumes and speed, and returning results in formats easily integratable into digital lenders existing credit checks to make a lending decision in real time. This is only possible via efficient technology integrations with infrastructure that can scale. Are any of the Nigerian Credit Bureaus building for this?
With combination of new technologies like blockchain and data science, CRBs are now uniquely positioned not just for efficient credit checks, but to drive a whole new suite of services. Should they reach enough penetration and scale across the retail market, in the future CRBs can morph into credit scoring companies, becoming another source of credit data across industries.
Price Right, and Sometimes That’s Lower
Achieving a massive base of mostly retail and new first time borrowers over time is a long term game, and sometimes that means revenue in the early days may not be impressive. There is a popular saying, “If it is free, you are the product”.
To get enough penetration, CRBs must consider digital lending companies as the product to helping them become the #1 source for aggregate credit data for the Nigerian economy. For almost all lenders to use your services, at the very least it should add value to their service offerings, and while CRBs are working on creating a strong value add, they must refrain disincentivizing with high prices. Digital retail lenders are more concerned with achieving high volumes than they are with gaining high margins per transaction. That is simply their business model.
Therefore, the pricing of credit facilitating services the CRBs have to offer must match the retails lending products of digital lenders. Some CRBs currently price checking the lending profile of commercial loans seekers can go as high as N1, 000 per check. This amount is a full loan in the retail space.
Therefore, it is important that CRBs align their pricing structures with the volumes pricing model by offering low prices that will result in significant revenue with significant transaction volumes. In the early days, as a penetration strategy, they should consider limiting the cost burden on the lenders in order to drive as much adoption as possible. Such limitations can be in the form of fee-free transactions for a certain volume of transactions and then super low prices that scale with volume. Once the value proposition of the CRB is significantly stronger, slightly higher pricing may follow.
Functional First, Then Legal
Historically, the value proposition of Credit Bureau as a service in Nigeria was created by need, and then deepened by regulation. For certain financial institutions, there is a regulatory requirement to check credit bureaus before the disbursement of loans to a commercial borrower. While the values of these mandatory checks are arguable, reporting requirement is definitely logical. With retail lending companies, these checks are simply not necessary because of alternative data points garnered through telephone data.
Because credit bureaus do not have a strong enough value proposition for digital lenders due to their sparse or outright unavailability of retail user credit data , most digital lenders leverage alternative means of data collection and analysis to determine the credit score of users without having to connect with credit bureaus. Credit Bureaus must build for scale in preparation for, because sooner or later, regulation may be enacted which may deepen or at the very least test, whatever value propositions they have initially solved for, and before that happens, now is a good time to design for how important CRBs want to be in this new era and importantly the future of digital lending.
This preparedness may enable them generate compound value over time. A recreation of past methods to solve past problems simply will not be useful in solving for modern lending trends and challenges as there is a wide chasm between traditional and digital lending methodologies. If CRBs do not innovate in response to the needs of rising digital lenders, as with everything else that does not adapt in the midst of innovation, they also will be disrupted.
Rotilu currently serves as the General Manager, Nigeria at Branch.co, helping to provide world class financial services via mobile phones to the underserved. She previously served as the Country Manager for Uber and Management Consultant at Deloitte. A computer scientist by education, she is also a Certified Chartered Accountant with ACCA, UK and pens her thoughts on the financial services landscape in Africa, and its intersection with technology.

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'Just don't do it': Nike's ad condemning George Floyd death slammed as skeptics ask what's the real motive
Social media users questioned Nike's motives after the clothing giant released an ad condemning the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old truck driver who died during his arrest in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
In the ad, soft piano music plays while white text appears over a black background and implores Americans to stand up to a system that had repeatedly failed African-Americans and people of color.
"For once, just don’t do it," it read. "Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America. Don’t turn your back on racism. Don’t accept innocent lives being taken from us. Don’t make any more excuses. Don’t think this doesn’t affect you. Don’t sit back and be silent. Don’t think you can’t be part of the change. Let’s all be part of the change."
In an email addressed to his employees obtained by Yahoo Finance, Nike CEO John Donahoe explained why the company had decided to respond to not just Floyd's death, but also those of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Christian Cooper.
"Team, As we’ve watched racial tragedies expose prejudice and injustice in our cities over these past few weeks, I can’t stop thinking about the individuals impacted: Ahmaud Arbery. Christian Cooper, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd," he wrote. "The horrible killings and racist actions serve as a sickening reminder of what too many people live through every day in America. It is absolutely wrong what’s happening in our communities, to our friends and family members. These tragedies are not unique to the U.S. Far from it – we see violent incidents in countries all over the world, fueled by hatred and ignorance."
"Let me be as clear as I can: Nike is opposed to bigotry. We are opposed to hatred and inequality in all its forms, indirect and overt. While Nike cannot solve injustice, I believe we have a responsibility to work toward addressing it to the best of our ability."
However, Twitter users slammed Nike for being sanctimonious and suggested the company's true motives behind the ad were to profit of the tragedies and not some innocent exercise to raise awareness.
"Okay that's great that y'all made a minute long video but like...what are you doing to help?" one user wrote. "As a multi-billion dollar company I feel like there should be a little bit more done besides some white text on a black background."
"So we’re making ads about this now with the Nike symbol at the end?" another tweeted. "If Nike actually was pushing for real change they would support bills for legislation to help end this systematic racism, not just put up ads."
The skepticism is not unfounded, RT reported. Nike had previously publicly backed NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick over his protests against police brutality that had seen him kneel during the national anthem and draw criticism from numerous quarters, including President Donald Trump.
The company had created a major campaign asking Americans to "sacrifice everything" to "believe in something," and while it took a 3 percent hit in stocks following the day of the launch, it saw an overall 5 percent increase — amounting to $6 billion in overall value — in the year that followed.
Trump's warning that Nike would get "absolutely killed with anger and boycotts" because of their involvement with Kaepernick only seemed to help profits further, with online sales jumping by 25 percent in the aftermath.
However, as others pointed out, the retailer had backed Kaepernick even though they stood to lose hundreds of thousands of white customers and has a long history of standing up for numerous social issues. Since 1988, they have spoken out about ageism, sexism, homophobia, gender discrimination, inequality, police brutality, and more.


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Great news for all the smartphone lovers in Pakistan! Vivo, the well-known mobile phone manufacturer, has just announced some exciting changes in its mobile phone prices. The company has taken a wonderful step by reducing the prices of some of its smartphones, making them more affordable and valuable for the customers.
The Latest Vivo Mobile Price List
Starting from 3rd August 2023, Vivo has updated its price list for various mobile phones, including the popular Y series and their flagship model, the Vivo V27e. Let’s dive into the details of these fresh pricing and the amazing features they bring.
|Model||RAM/ROM||Price (PKR)||Price (USD)||Price (INR)|
Vivo’s Y series has always been a favorite among users, offering a great balance of features and performance at competitive prices. With the latest price reduction, the Vivo Y02s now starts at a budget-friendly Rs. 35,999. However, it’s worth noting that both the Vivo Y02 and Y02s share the same price point.
Moving on, the Vivo Y02T and Y16 offer enhanced features with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, priced at Rs. 49,999 and Rs. 54,999, respectively.
The Vivo Y22 comes in two variants, both offering 4GB of RAM. The base model, priced at Rs. 64,999, may seem a little on the higher side for some considering the market competition. However, Vivo addresses this concern with its 4GB+128GB variant priced at Rs. 65,999, providing a more reasonable choice for customers seeking additional storage.
Y36 and Y73
For tech enthusiasts seeking powerful performance and abundant storage, Vivo’s Y36 and Y73 are excellent choices. Both models feature 8GB of RAM, ensuring smooth multitasking and gaming experiences. The Y36 offers 128GB of storage, while the Y73 boasts a generous 256GB, both priced at Rs. 89,999.
While Vivo has reduced prices for some of its models, the flagship Vivo V27e remains steadfast at Rs. 119,999. This powerful device, with its impressive 8GB of RAM and a massive 256GB of storage, continues to stand tall as a premium option for users seeking top-tier performance and features.
With Vivo’s latest price adjustments, customers in Pakistan now have a more diverse selection of smartphones catering to various budgets and preferences. Whether you’re looking for a budget-friendly device with the Y02s or seeking premium performance with the V27e, Vivo has something for everyone.


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Airlines go on guard against cyber-fraud
The Internet, a convenience to travelers looking to quickly book a trip, is also a gateway to fraud, costing the airline industry tens of millions of dollars a year.
Now, some carriers are stepping up their efforts to fight back. They're boosting the staff that tracks crimes and tapping into new technology that can help detect it. But as large airlines tackle the problem, there is growing concern that fraudsters are moving onto smaller carriers whose defenses are not yet in place.
"The fact is that any airline that hasn't upgraded their fraud-protection system in the last couple years is a sitting duck," said Jeff Liesendahl, chief executive of Accertify, which provides fraud-prevention technology and services to airlines and other e-commerce companies.
Throughout the airline industry, online fraud is on the rise. A Deloitte UK survey taken in 2009 found that 48 percent of more than 50 responding U.S. and global carriers said online fraud had increased in the past year, and each airline's losses averaged more than $2.4 million annually.
Other fraud experts say the amount is far greater. An industry poll released last year by CyberSource, an electronic payment security-management company, and aviation conference firm Airline Information estimated total losses at $1.4 billion in 2008.
"The general feedback from everybody ... is that they see it getting worse," said Graham Pickett, partner in charge of aviation services for Deloitte UK, which conducted its survey for the International Association of Airline Internal Auditors. "The main driver has been ... the Internet, and in particular credit card type bookings."
American Airlines and Virgin America have noticed an uptick. "We have seen an increase over the past year that is significant," said Virgin America spokeswoman Abby Lunardini. Virgin officials "assume it's a combination of the overall rise in online purchasing and the growing sophistication of those who engage in credit card fraud."
In July, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, Beth Phillips, announced indictments of 38 people allegedly involved in a nationwide ring that used stolen credit and debit card information to buy airline tickets. The tickets were resold and led to estimated losses of more than $20 million for several U.S. airlines, banks, card holders and other businesses.
Airlines have ramped up prevention efforts in the last two years, hiring experts from the financial services industry, expanding anti-fraud teams and incorporating new computer systems that are more skillful at pinpointing suspicious transactions.
It's primarily larger carriers that have taken steps against fraud, Liesendahl said. As a result, smaller airlines, or those that have been online for a shorter time, are drawing the attention of criminals.
"The fraudster is going to go to the places where there's the least amount of fraud protection," Liesendahl said.
Airlines are reluctant to reveal details of their fraud-prevention efforts.
"Common sense on this issue limits a discussion of what we do to track, prevent and seek prosecution of such occurrences," said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines. "We're just not interested in providing a 'how to' lesson on the subject."
Still, Smith said, "I can tell you, in a very broad sense, that we have seen some increase in fraud and attempted fraud the last couple years."
The airline's corporate security team deals with credit card fraud, he said, and often works with financial services companies and law enforcement when making inquiries.
In the travel sector, companies such as Orbitz were hit first and hardest by fraudsters, resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenue a month.
After those companies took action to plug their holes, criminals took aim at airlines.
"The Web is where businesses go to accelerate growth but also (it's where they) have the most risk," said David Britton, vice president of airline fraud solutions at 41st Parameter, which provides fraud-detection solutions to various industries. "Unfortunately, (airlines) have had to learn along the way."
Credit card abuse, with someone entering a stolen card number on a website, is the primary type of online fraud, experts say. But criminals are also increasingly tapping into fliers' airline loyalty accounts and then using the passengers' miles or points for travel.
Although first-class and business-section seats typically booked by business passengers have been popular -- both for fraudsters wanting to take a trip and those looking to sell a ticket -- criminals are now booking seats throughout the plane, and further in advance, to make their scams harder to detect, some fraud experts say.
AirTran set up a fraud-prevention department in 2003 that began with one staffer. It has since grown to six people that work full time keeping a lookout for such crimes. And in the last several months, the carrier has been upgrading its anti-fraud program with advanced technology that is "much more automated, less dependent on manual work," said spokesman Christopher White.
As a result, he said, the airline's losses to fraud amount to less than 1 percent of revenue. The airline took in $2.3 billion in revenue in 2009.
"We continue to learn," White says. "It's a 24/7 game of cat and mouse. It's just like malware, spyware: You plug one hole (and) a thief is going to try to find another way."
Southwest began using a technology platform from Accertify in August 2008 that takes into account all that is known about a passenger, from where they usually travel, to the phone number being used, to flag suspect purchases. Those can then be referred to an agent who gives it a closer look, and may even call the customer to make sure the transaction is valid.
Southwest's fraud dropped 73 percent in the first year, Liesendahl said.
With airlines generating billions in revenue a year, the loss of a few million dollars to fraud may not seem particularly alarming. But "it's a crime," said AirTran's White. And "this is probably the most competitive industry in America. Every dollar counts, and every passenger counts. So we're going to do all we can to protect both."
(c) 2010, USA Today.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.


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Timbren Industries has promoted Andrew Hodgson from director of sales and marketing to executive vice president. The company said Hodgson has been an integral part of its growth since he started and it expects he will continue to bring a high level of energy and enthusiasm to his new position of leadership.
“Timbren is very much part of my DNA,” Hodgson said. “I’ve been extremely fortunate to have spent time in several areas of the company over the past 17 years. As a student working summers in the shop, then coming on board full time in customer service and finally moving to the marketing and sales side of the business. Each department and team has taught me valuable lessons and given me an incredible amount of insight into our organization, products and customers.
“I’m proud to carry on the legacy of my grandfather, Arnold Heron, who built an incredible product and organization. I am forever grateful for the foundation he laid. I’m equally grateful to my father, Neil Hodgson, our current president, for the leadership he continues to give to this company.
“I’m enthusiastic for the future of Timbren. We have incredible customers, world-class products and an impressive team committed to the continued growth and success of Timbren.”


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We told you the biggest challenge facing radio in-car isn’t leaving the dashboard entirely; it’s losing its front and center position amid the myriad of options in the center screen now. That’s according to a connected car Webcast coordinated by NAB’s Pilot division.
Scott Burnell, Global Lead, Business Development Ford Sync, says Ford’s solution allows user habits to come into the vehicle in a responsible manner. “People don’t want clutter. They want it to be simple,” he says, referring to the connected dashboard entertainment system.
Ford’s Sync replies on voice commands as much as possible as well has hard and soft buttons. This year it launched Sync3.
The automaker has now made its applink program open-source. The program allows you to maintain your brand in the vehicle; that includes radio station’s too using their apps.
The automaker supports smart device link, a way to present content in a similar way across vehicle lines.


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Click to expand: Email reporter from. Kurt Schlosser this week from a comedian and internet troll posing as Jackie Bezos, mother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. (Screenshot from.)
In my five-plus years in., I’ve often wondered what it would take to get Jeff Bezos’s attention and how I would react if the Amazon founder emailed me about one of my stories. I never thought it would be a random story about your purchase of a soft serve machine, or that the person sending the email would be your mom.
In the sea of releases and press releases I get from PR folks, an apparent note (above) from Jackie Bezos, president and co-founder of the Bezos Family Foundation, easily stood out this week.
No way, I thought. “This is not real.”
But the signature of the email with the foundation logo and address looked so good that I couldn’t resist pasting the note and conveying my enthusiasm to the Slack team at .. It got a couple of “Wow!” answers, and before I think much more about it or do any research, you know, journalism stuff, I just wrote “Jackie.”
I thanked her for emailing me, told her I love soft serve ice cream, my kids love Dippin Dots, and if Jeff ever wanted to talk about ice cream or anything else, she knew how to reach me. The next response said, “Absolutely!” – and Jeff Bezos was added to the thread via his real Amazon email address.
Suddenly I had visions of a car picking me up to take me to a private jet. I’d fly to Beverly Hills and tonight I’d be eating artisan ice cream in Jeff Bezos’s kitchen talking about Amazon, space, chocolate versus vanilla, and whatever else the richest person in the world talks about. I could already see my name in the new Journalism Center for Excellence. in Seattle, funded by the Bezos Family Foundation.
But I didn’t answer this time. And thankfully, I didn’t touch my story by adding a fake comment from the fake Jackie Bezos about his son’s love of ice cream. I fell asleep all over.
And the next morning, after listening to Amazon PR, as well as a New York Post reporter who was also attacked, I knew that I had been misled.
Looking for a reaction
Ben Palmer performs a stand-up comedy when he doesn’t mess with people online. (Photo courtesy of Ben Palmer)
“The point was not to mess with you,” Ben Palmer told me Thursday morning after calling me from his home in Colorado.
I wrote to Palmer after discovering that he was a fake Jackie and that he had been sharing, and has since deleted, responses related to his fake emails on a Facebook page he runs called Hope This Helps. Other notes to other media outlets went beyond the one he sent me, saying that Bezos’s new ice cream machine was already broken.
“I felt guilty when you answered; I didn’t want you to get too excited, like, ‘Oh man, we could get an interview with Jeff Bezos!’ Palmer said. “The goal is to get someone who represents Jeff Bezos to just get a reaction from them, because it’s very difficult to get a reaction from someone who is high up.”
And Palmer has been trying for some time.
The 35-year-old Air Force veteran has attracted 2 million followers on TikTok with his brand of internet trolling and comedy. On YouTube, his videos are a mix of his jokes, whether he’s talking about screenshots of his hoax on social media or on court television to litigate bogus cases.
Ben Palmer of Palmer Trolls in some of the videos he has produced detailing his efforts to get reactions from different companies and organizations. (YouTube screenshots)
Palmer, who has lived in Atlanta and Los Angeles, earns income from content he creates online and from his comedy tours. In fact, he is scheduled to perform in Seattle at The Rendezvous in Belltown on October 15, just a few blocks from Amazon headquarters. I told him that I planned to introduce myself and interrupt him for an hour, to see how he likes to be disturbed at work.
A former concert worker who has driven for Uber and Lyft and delivered food, Palmer addresses businesses, business leaders and corporate accounts via email or on social media. What interests him most is trolling in the name of workers’ rights and social justice.
“You feel the rage of being treated like shit by big business,” he said.
He has created fake quote memes attributed to Bezos or SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and will contact his representatives seeking comment on the legitimacy of the quotes. He often masquerades as a reporter for a non-existent Colorado newspaper, or as a reporter for a bogus CBS affiliate in Akron, Ohio. Getting an answer is part of the comedy Palmer hopes to convey to his fans.
He also poses as company accounts to go after users on social media who complain about things like a gay couple in an ad or the politics of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. He made headlines in 2016 for posing as Home Depot guest relations on Facebook and copying Fox News in a post’s comments. He went viral last year when he pretended to be Costco, responding to a customer complaining about the mask policy at the wholesaler’s store during the height of the pandemic.
Comments from Ben Palmer, pretending to be Costco responding to a customer on Facebook. (Facebook screenshot via Ben Palmer)
Palmer has addressed Bezos in various ways, trying to get a reaction. You’ve tried to book Bezos for a stay at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Or you will contact random places and say that Bezos plans to visit and needs accommodation for his exotic animals. Often times, if Bezos’ email is attached, the correspondence is intercepted by Amazon corporate communications.
Bezos’ immense wealth, the defeat of a unionization effort at one of Amazon’s warehouses, and Amazon’s new mission to be “the best employer on earth” fuel Palmer’s desire for a reaction.
“It’s just frustrating,” he said. “Apart from unionizing, there is nothing you can do about it when you work there. So I try to do all I can in a comical way to mess with them.
Palmer said he avoids impersonating real people and said emailing like Jackie Bezos was an exception. But it was not a phishing scheme. He was not looking for money. I was looking for an answer. But if the Bezos Family Foundation were to sue, he estimates it would be more publicity.
“A billionaire sues a poor comedian … maybe I don’t fully understand how lawsuits work, but what do you want, my 2014 Nissan Sentra for this?” Palmer joked.
A fake quote from a fake journalist in a fake newspaper Ben Palmer sent to Jeff Bezos, getting a response from Amazon PR. (Image courtesy of Ben Palmer)
Fast and fake friends
I laughed for a good half hour talking to Palmer on the phone. He said he was going to send me ice cream for my troubles and I suggested maybe an Amazon gift card.
I felt like we made a connection that I didn’t really make with the fake Jackie Bezos.
But in addition to wasting the time of journalists or corporate public relations representatives in the name of comedy, I asked Palmer if he is concerned about contributing to the scourge of misinformation that is doing real harm on the internet and in the real world.
“Yes, I try not to make companies that are actually doing a good service look bad,” he said.
Palmer clearly has some reservations about who is affected in his efforts to reach the top and reach people like Bezos or Musk or Mark Zuckerberg etc.
“Sometimes I feel bad,” he said. “It is a learning experience. I try to see how far I can go. It’s worth it? Who are you using in the process to do this? «
I ask if that applies to journalists who are only trying to report on ice cream machines bought by billionaires, and Palmer laughs.
“Sorry, Kurt,” he said. “This is my official apology to you. That should be the headline.


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Despite what politicians, billionaires, and brands are tweeting, no one is trying to give back to the community by doubling Bitcoin you send over. The repetitive tweet is all part of a massive hack with unclear origins — and it's seemingly out of control.
Starting Wednesday afternoon, accounts belonging to Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Kanye West and others sent out a Bitcoin transaction address, promising any amount sent to it would be doubled and sent back. The hack soon spread to former Vice President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and then, after initial tweets were deleted, another round poured onto many of the same accounts.
The hackers' Bitcoin wallet showed they'd received more than 300 transactions and more than 100,000 bitcoin as of 6 p.m. ET, though those transactions were largely unconfirmed.
It took Twitter an hour to respond to the mass hacking, and it didn't really say much.
We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 15, 2020
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A host of major mobile gaming publishers have slashed the prices of premium games on the Apple App Store to 59p this week.
Clearly the release of the Verizon iPhone 4 in the US this week has shaken up the mobile gaming market a little.
EA leads the charge in this month's App Store bargain drive, with other publishers such as Capcom, Namco, Sega and Gameloft cutting prices of premium games to 59p.
Mobile gaming specialist Gameloft announced via its Facebook page that 13 of its games would be 59p until Valentine's Day, with fans allowed to vote for the 14th game they wanted to see made available at the discounted price.
iOS sweetheart deals
EA is also offering 'sweetheart deals' with loads of its iOS games slashed down to 59p, especially for Valentine's Day.
Of course, if you are forced to purchase cut-price iOS games to celebrate Valentine's Day, then you might want to re-assess your life choices. That aside, we cannot argue with lots of decent games at bargain bin prices.
Particularly when they are from the likes of Japanese gaming legend Capcom – with that publisher cutting the price of its entire iOS game line-up – with gems such as Resident Evil 4, Street Fighter IV and Devil May Cry: Refrain – slashed to 59p a pop.
Not to be outdone, Sega is offering 16 titles including Super Monkey Ball, Chu Chu Rocket, and Golden Axe at discounted prices, while Namco has cut the price of 15 of its titles on the App Store.
At that price, it's almost criminal for any iPhone gamer to not own all of the above-mentioned titles.


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Tsar Putin orders glorious Russian supercomputer
Made with invincible and advanced Russian chips based on proven technology
Terrified that ordering invasions of other countries might prevent his country getting its paws on technology, Tsar Putin has ordered that a supercomputer be built around Russian-made Elbrus processors.
Fab manufacturing equipment gets created for ARM first
35 million ARM vs 1.6 million "other“ wafers
There is one big change that is happening in the manufacturing equipment industry and ARM used its ARMTechCon to educate us about the big change. Drew Henry, SVP of infrastructure at ARM, pointed out in its presentation that ARM silicon wafer production ends up in 35 million wafers.
ARM shakes fist at X86 notebook hegemony
And Microsoft seems keen too...
We've waited years and years for ARM to offer a real challenge to Intel on the notebook front, and judging from what the company announced today in Old Taiwan, 2019 could be when Chipzilla discovers it has an Achilles' heel. Intel isn't invulnerable, despite its size, demonstrated, for example, by the way it totally missed the boat on the smartphone front.
Microsoft exec talks 64-bit on Snapdragon
Exclusive: 64-bit SDK coming
We had a chance to ask Erin Chappelle, General Manager of the Windows and Device group of Microsoft, and lead player of Windows 10 on Snapdragon about the lack of 64-bit emulation support at launch.
Chipzilla's profits rise nine percent over last year
But the money is in the datacentre
Intel reported profits nine per cent higher than last year, but most of its money came from a rush on its products ear marked for the datacentre rather than its PC bread and butter.
Qualcomm shows Windows 10 on Snapdragon 835
Qualcomm set to disrupt the current Mobile PC market
Today Qualcomm announced OEM partners for Snapdragon Mobile PCs and we have a few more details about the Snapdragon 835 powered WIndows 10 powered platform.
AMD focuses on Zen X86 this year
K12 ARM future unconfirmed
We're not sure if many people caught the fact that in last week's financial analyst update, AMD didn’t mention anything about the K12 and future ARM server products. We reached out and asked it for a comment.
ARM is coming back to mobile devices in a big way
The x86 battle is about to get a lot hotter
Qualcomm is expected to show its ARM goodies at Computex event
Windows 10 demo was on Snapdragon 821
Qualcomm president confirms multiple chipset support
Just five days ago, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 has full support for Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs and everyone jumped to the conclusion expecting that only the Snapdragon 835 and the future SoCs are supported. It turns out that the device on stage was based on Snapdragon 821 confirming that Windows 10 runs on the current generation too.
Intel’s Puma 6 chip-set falls asleep
Serious latency problems
One of the world’s most popular chipsets for gigabit broadband modems, Intel's Puma 6 chipset, suffers from at latency jitter so bad it ruins online gaming and other real-time connections.


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Apple AirPods Max users are complaining about condensation issues in the ear cups
According to some users on Reddit and Twitter, water droplets are forming under the removable ear pads on the AirPods Max and this is leading to ear-detection issues.
Some Apple AirPods Max users have been reporting issues with condensation within the ear cups of the headphones. According to reports, there are water droplets forming under the removable ear pads near the drivers.
These newly-launched ₹59,900-worth headphones seem to be susceptible to this condensation issue due to the liberal use of metal in the design. As compared to the Apple AirPods Max other over-ear headphones use more plastic than metal.
Users have been taking to social media to complain about this issue and one of the users even provided images to show the issue and others responded to his by stating they have been facing similar issues as well.
So, uhh... my AirPods Max form condensation after extended use. They've never been used in any humid environment. The water gets inside the drivers and has caused ear detection problems. I've been wearing them inside sitting at a desk mainly, nothing crazy. Super concerning issue pic.twitter.com/0pWicvxLv9— Donald Filimon (@donaldfilimon) December 27, 2020
Twitter user Donald Filimon shared images on Twitter and Reddit that show water droplets in the ear cups of a space grey-coloured AirPods Max that has the ear pads removed. There are very visible water droplets on the inside, near the drivers.
Filimon reported that he used the headphones in non-humid environments, mainly indoors, and mentioned that the water droplets are causing ear-detection problems on the headset.
Both the Twitter and Reddit threads have replied from users who are reporting similar issues which shows that what Filimon was facing was not an isolated incident.
This condensation issue is a problem surely, but all the more because the headphones cost a whopping ₹60k. With a price like that the Apple AirPods Max are one of the most expensive mainstream headphones available today and an issue like this is indeed worrisome.
According to Cult of Mac, this condensation issue is possibly being caused by the sweat from the user's ears. While sweat condensation inside headphones is not an uncommon issue since over-the-ear headphones are supposed to have snug fits. The issue here is that the AirPods Max is unable to handle these amounts of sweat or moisture.
Practically speaking, since the ear pads are removable, cleaning these water droplets off periodically using a soft cloth should be alright. However, if they do get into the drivers they can cause significant damage.
Follow HT Tech for the latest tech news and reviews , also keep up with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google News, and Instagram. For our latest videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel.


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Of course since this is all a big speculation, it is necessary to wait until the official announcement of Sony. Sony is about to announce the devices in a couple of days at MWC 2018. Some reports however hint at a dual-camera setup.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 will be available from end-March in the colours Liquid Black, Liquid Silver and Deep Green for Euro 799, and the Xperia XZ2 Compact will come in Black, White Silver and Moss Green for Euro 599.
England crushed in Six Nations boilover
Eddie Jones accepted the blame after England saw their hopes of another Six Nations title dented by a 25-13 defeat to Scotland . That victory ended a ten-match Scottish losing streak against England but, fast forward 18 years, and it is a similar story.
The Compact XZ2 version, meanwhile, comes in a 5-inch model with a non-scratch polycarbonate finish. However, it's worth noting that Sony has moved the fingerprint scanner at the back of the phone. I don't mind this, especially since the space is used to house some fantastic-sounding stereo speakers. I personally liked the look, and feel of the Xperia Ear Duo and hope we do get to see them in Australia soon. The XZ2 features a 3,180mAh battery, while the Compact has a 2,870 power source. Just how well this feature is going to work remains to be seen. As for the Xperia XZ2 Compact, the smartphone has a 5-inch full HD+ Triluminos HDR display with 18:9 aspect ratio and is backed by a 2870mAh battery. However, it lacks the "Dynamic Vibration System" and wireless charging present in its bigger brother. It sounds gimmicky, but may turn out to be a nice little extra. Not only that, but the company says these are its loudest phone speakers ever, lovingly naming them "S-Force Front Surround". While not a bezel-less OLED panel, the Xperia XZ2's 5.7-inch Full HD+ display still gives the phone a higher screen-to-body ratio. For Graphics it has a Adreno 630 GPU.
US curling team gets stonewalled by Delta despite gold medal
Blouin said she had been nursing a bruise on her left buttock since Wednesday and aggravated it when she fell on her first jump. Although, there is one Canadian Olympian who is getting quite a bad rep after last night's game.
Other features of the new models include X20 LTE (offering speeds of up to 1.2Gbit/s, though don't expect anything near that on South Africa's mobile networks).
The Xperia XZ2 (pictured above and below) and XZ2 Compact do indeed look like a bit of a departure from past Sony-branded handsets, even if they don't necessarily adopt a wildly different overall design. The XZ received an improved camera capable of 4K HDR recording. Hopefully the device will be able to record for more than a few seconds this time around. (Sony ditched the Wireless Charging feature after the Z3 and never put it back in its flagships - until now). The display will apparently have a 1080p+ resolution - according to @evleaks.
Westfield High School Students Plan Walk Out March 14
The teacher was injured when the bullet struck a toilet and caused it to explode. "My instincts are to be a teacher". Scott said he disagrees with the notion of arming educators, saying teachers should teach and police should police.
The Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact release date is set for late Spring 2018. Still, we can try to make an educated guess about the price. The Last year's XZ1 Compact, which appeared at the tail end of 2017, was a dinky 5.2in smartphone that didn't scrimp on specs. Similarly, the United Kingdom price for both handsets is yet to be confirmed.
- Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Includes Ideal For-Business Features
- South Korea Is Set To Face Japan In Women's Curling Semifinals
- Rohit Sharma achieves unique feat after Cape Town thriller
- It's Hard To Imagine How Armed Teachers Might Change Schools
- Curling USA: Skip Shuster opens way to US win
- Manchester United v Chelsea - Fans' view
- Huawei Unveils New MateBook X Pro with Nearly No Bezels
- Kohli out of 3rd t20
- Katy Perry roasts Kim Kardashian's 90s makeup in throwback photo
- CPAC 2018: President Trump fires up conservatives at Conservative Political Action Conference


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CHICAGO — IGA here said it has selected six members as finalists for IGA USA International Retailer of the Year.
The finalists are Sheila Austin, Buehler's IGA, Darmstadt, Ind.; Scott Lovejoy, C.E. Lovejoy's Brookswood Market IGA, Bend, Ore.; Charles Reichert, Southold IGA, Southold, N.Y.; Jim Shook, Lake Region IGA, Hawley, Pa.; Paul Vander Jagt, Van's IGA Dillon, Dillon, Mont.; and Kevin Young, Young's Payless IGA, Lockeford, Calif.
Beginning in December, IGA executives will visit each of the finalists' stores to gather information on how each serves the community, which will be used to help determine which three operators will be honored along with their global counterparts as IGA International Retailers of the Year at the IGA Global Rally in Las Vegas in February.
|More from Supermarketnews


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May Mobility, a Michigan-based startup that is operating autonomous shuttle services in three U.S. cities, has raised $50 million in a Series B round led by Toyota Motor Corp.
The funding, which comes less than a year after May Mobility raised $22 million, will be used to expand every aspect of the company, including its AV shuttle fleet, as well as its engineering and operations staff.
May Mobility has 25 autonomous low-speed shuttles spread out between Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan and Providence, Rhode Island — the three cities in which it operates. The startup wants to build that number up to 25 vehicles per city, co-founder and COO Alisyn Malek told TechCrunch. That fleet size improves the economic picture for the startup and will begin to meaningfully impact transportation in that city.
This latest round does more than provide May Mobility with capital. The startup, which launched in 2017, has gained a customer as well. Toyota has picked May Mobility as one of its “autonomous driving providers for future open platforms,” according to the startup.
Toyota and May Mobility didn’t share specifics about what this partnership will lead to. But it will likely pair the startup’s autonomous vehicle technology with the Toyota e-Palette, a platform the automaker unveiled in 2018 at CES, the annual tech trade show in Las Vegas.
The e-Palette was presented as a concept vehicle, but really it’s a platform that fits into Toyota’s vision for a mobility ecosystem that will transition it from a company that just produces and sells cars to one that handles all aspects of moving people and things from point A to point B.
The e-Palette is designed for flexibility. The platform, which theoretically will be outfitted with autonomous vehicle technology, could be used as a shuttle, for delivering packages to customers or even as a roving mobile shop.
May Mobility will be working with Toyota to identify market opportunities, Malek said, adding that the company will be one of the automaker’s primary partners in co-development to bring those platforms out to market.
“They really believe in the transportation-as-a-service work that we’re doing and want to support that,” Malek said.


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Canada Goose has teamed up with L.A.-based shoe design collective, Surgeon, for an updated take on the outerwear company’s Glacier Trail sneaker.
According to Surgeon, the updated style was inspired by exploration and vintage outdoor gear while also nodding to the colors, patterns and styles from the ‘90s.
More from Footwear News
The updated Canada Goose x Surgeon Glacier Trail sneaker features an upper with 3M webbing detailing along with quilted padded materials on the instep as a nod to the brand’s puffer jackets. A deep olive ripstop nylon wraps the sneaker, displaying a tonal topographic embroidery, along with dual branding hits bring Surgeon’s inspiration to life.
“Nature has always played a large role in my wellbeing and is a constant inspiration throughout our design process,” Dominic “The Surgeon” Ciambrone, founder and creative director of Surgeon, said in a statement. “With Canada Goose venturing into footwear, it was exciting to repurpose their signature materials onto a sneaker and have fun with the design.”
Penny Brook, chief marketing and experience officer at Canada Goose, added that she’s proud to bring this collaboration to life. “We’re always striving to bring our community exciting new partnerships with of-the-moment designers and could not be happier with the latest installment we’ve brought to life with Surgeon,” Brook said.
Consumers can purchase a pair of limited-edition Canada Goose x Surgeon Glacier Trail sneakers online at Surgeon.com for a limited time only, while quantities last.
Bespoke pairs will also be made available through an auction on biddingforgood.com from Nov. 4 – Nov. 17. All proceeds will go to Polar Bears International, which helps to secure a future for polar bears across the arctic.
This collaboration comes as Canada Goose further invests in its footwear category. Canada Goose footwear first appeared in late 2021 with two boot styles. At the time, this expansion was years in the making, beginning with the company’s acquisition of Baffin in 2018.
In July, Canada Goose expanded its footwear range once more with the launch of the Glacier Trail sneakers in both low and high-top versions.
Best of Footwear News


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On Friday, Bungie surprised us all and announced a 10-year partnership with Call of Duty publisher Activision.
Bungie will remain an independent studio, but some of us have our doubts.
Thankfully, Bungie has thrown a video together, detailing why its goals of excellence, and accepting nothing short of it, remain intact with the announcement of the partnership and the next text tens of Bungie games.
What I enjoyed most, was at the end, when the Bungie representative said about a publisher, which we definitely think is Activision, “trust that we’re going to do something great, give us the money to pay for it, then get out of our way.” Huzzah!
Think Bungie has what it takes to remain awesome, releasing games for multiple platforms, considering the exclusive Microsoft and Xbox/360 niche its carved?


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Groupon wants to be the king of local commerce, but with Groupon Goods it has a platform for online sales that compete with the likes of Amazon to sell goods from everyone everywhere. Today, it put another link into the second of these strategies with the acquisition of CommerceInterface, a channel management technology used in e-commerce operations that aggregate goods from multiple vendors.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. And it doesn’t look like CommerceInterface, headquartered in Salt Lake City and operational since 2007, had raised any significant funds from outside investors previously.
Groupon had already been using CommerceInterface in its own Groupon Goods operations since April of this year, it said in a release. Groupon Goods is a bit of a soup-to-nuts effort: it’s a platform for different merchants to post sales of diamond jewellery and designer sunglasses, but also mattresses, computers and cutlery. So this could be a matter of the company wanting to better integrate the service as it continues to build up that business, which as of Q3 was on a run rate of $1.5 billion in global billings. Using an outsourced service could be less efficient in that case.
“CommerceInterface has proven to be an important piece of Groupon Goods infrastructure in the U.S., quickly and reliably streamlining the execution of orders and other vendor interactions,” said Faisal Masud, head of Groupon Goods, in a statement. “We look forward to enhancing our abilities to better support merchants overseas beginning early next year.”
When I first heard about this deal, I thought it could be a good way for Groupon to add yet another service to its portfolio that it can offer on to other businesses to improve their overall e-commerce operations.
CommerceInterface currently offers a platform to merchants to help them optimise how and where they list their items to sell across different marketplaces — be they eBay, Amazon, Fab, Groupon Goods, or somewhere else. You could see something like CommerceInterface sitting as part of a wider service portfolio that Groupon offers to merchants as a “one-stop shop” for all their e-e-commerce needs. Groupon has made a number of other acquisitions that you could put into the category of B2B IT services, including its Breadcrumb point-of-sale buy earlier this year. That app got an update just earlier today.
But according to the release, this doesn’t look like it will be the case: “CommerceInterface will no longer service other retail channels and current customers will have the option to transition to other vendors over the next six months with migration support from the company,” the company says. That’s a missed opportunity, I think.
Full release below.
Groupon Acquires Channel Management Provider CommerceInterface
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Groupon (http://www.groupon.com) (NASDAQ: GRPN) announced today it has acquired CommerceInterface (http://www.commerceinterface.com), a leading provider of web-based channel management technology that helps manufacturers, distributors and retailers succeed at managing their businesses and selling online. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Groupon has used CommerceInterface technology since April 2012 to streamline operations of the growing Groupon Goods platform and automate interactions with thousands of existing vendors. The acquisition enables Groupon to leverage infrastructure provided by CommerceInterface to support and optimize the Groupon Goods business around the world in 2013.
“CommerceInterface has proven to be an important piece of Groupon Goods infrastructure in the U.S., quickly and reliably streamlining the execution of orders and other vendor interactions,” said Faisal Masud, head of Groupon Goods. “We look forward to enhancing our abilities to better support merchants overseas beginning early next year.”
CommerceInterface will no longer service other retail channels and current customers will have the option to transition to other vendors over the next six months with migration support from the company.
In Q3 2012, Groupon Goods reached an annual run rate of nearly $1.5 billion in global billings. A wide variety of high quality inventory is featured, from diamond jewelry and designer sunglasses to mattresses, computer tablets, 3D HD televisions and the giant radio-controlled flying shark. New items are added every day of the week and often sell out. To find the perfect holiday gift or subscribe for email updates, visit http://www.groupon.com/goods.


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However, the officials from Huawei has mentioned several times, that the company still want to do business with Google. And recently, the CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group – Richard reiterated the same interest in using Google services.
Richard in an interview with Wired told that Huawei has brought a huge revenue and profit to US companies such as Google and both firms have been very good partners.
“So, at Huawei, we still hope that we can continue to cooperate with Google. Hopefully, we can get a license from the US government. We are open. In the interests of the value of those US companies, they should… I hope they can give us the license.” told Yu.
He also said that Huawei wants to use all of Google’s services and Play Store as the primary choice along with HMS to offer vast services and best user experience. “We want to stay on the Android platform.”
Richard added that HMS and AppGallery were developed so quickly and getting better. the number of popular apps are growing on AppGallery and in one or two years, there will be lots of apps available on this app distribution platform.


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Sony India has officially launched a new range of 3D Blu-Ray Home Theatre Systems: the BDV-E980 and BDV-E880 along with a Blu-ray player BDP-S380. The BDV-E980 comes with four tall boy speakers while the BDV-E880 comes with two speakers.
© 2020 by Nepa Hima Trade Link Pvt. Ltd.
Developed by: Longtail e-media
Last year Sony took a bold gamble by introducing its QX line. Strap one of the lens cameras onto any Android or iOS device, and you'd get pictures that were far superior to what a smartphone could ordinarily turn out.


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by Calculated Risk on 10/05/2022 08:38:00 AM
From the Department of Commerce reported:
that the goods and services deficit was $67.4 billion in August, down $3.1 billion from $70.5 billion in July,
August exports were $258.9 billion, $0.7 billion less than July exports. August imports were $326.3 billion,
$3.7 billion less than July imports.
Exports increased and imports decreased in August.
Exports are up 20% year-over-year; imports are up 14% year-over-year.
The second graph shows the U.S. trade deficit, with and without petroleum.
Note that net, imports and exports of petroleum products are close to zero.
The trade deficit with China increased to $37.4 billion in August, from $21.7 billion a year ago.


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Malaysia Digital TV News
Sirius TV partners with SES for DTH bouquet launch in Malaysia
Oct 5, 2021 – Sirius TV has signed a contract with SES for distribution of a bouquet of satellite TV channels in Malaysia. The Sirius Basic package launches with 13 initial channels, five of which are in HD.
News categories: SES S.A, Sirius TV, Deepak Mathur, Khairuddin Abdul Rahman, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Malaysia, Satellite
SVOD household penetration in Malaysia to reach 27% in 2025
Sep 24, 2021 – The household penetration of SVOD services in Malaysia is expected to increase from 12% in 2020 to about 27% in 2025, driven by considerable rise in the adoption of OTT video, according to GlobalData.
News categories: GlobalData, Kantipudi Pradeepthi, Digital TV, Malaysia, Market Research, Streaming
UEI providing voice-enabled remote for Astro's Ultra set-tops
Sep 22, 2021 – Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI) (NASDAQ: UEIC) has begun providing voice-enabled remote controls to Astro for its Ultra set-top box. The remote is powered by UEI chip technology with BLE and unfrared control capability.
News categories: Universal Electronics, Astro, Kuldip Singh Johal, Shahrul Sultan, Digital TV, Malaysia, Satellite, Set Top Box, UX
Evergent subscription management for Astro's sooka OTT service
Sep 8, 2021 – Evergent has announced that Astro will use its customer management and monetization tools to support registration and subscription management for its new streaming service, sooka.
News categories: Evergent, Astro, sooka, Vijay Sajja, Euan Smith, Digital TV, Malaysia, Streaming
MEASAT-3 unable to re-enter service
Aug 6, 2021 – MEASAT will retire its MEASAT-3 satellite after an anomaly on 21 June 2021. The incident resulted in a complete outage of service and the satellite could not re-enter service. The satellite will be de-orbited in the following weeks.
News categories: MEASAT, Content Distribution, Digital TV, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Satellite
Astro launches STB for TV without a satellite dish
Jul 22, 2021 – Astro has launched its Ultra Plug & Play Box, offering customers international and local content without a satellite dish simply by connecting the box to the TV and internet. The box includes features such as Cloud Recording and Play from Start.
News categories: Astro, Azlin Arshad, Digital TV, IPTV, Malaysia, Set Top Box
CSG powers TV experiences at Maxis in Malaysia
Jun 30, 2021 – CSG (NASDAQ: CSGS) has expanded its relationship with Maxis. CSG enabled the launch of Maxis TV 2.0, and is poised to help drive future growth of Maxis' services through the launch of new experiences.
News categories: CSG, Maxis, Ian Watterson, Gokhan Ogut, Digital TV, Malaysia, Streaming, UX
Astro set-top boxes to include Netflix
Jun 24, 2021 – Thanks to a partnership between Astro and Netflix, Astro customers will soon be able to enjoy direct access to Netflix on their connected Ultra Boxes, and on connected Ulti Boxes in the coming months.
News categories: Astro, Netflix, Henry Tan, Tony Zameczkowski, Apps, Digital TV, Malaysia, Satellite, Set Top Box, Streaming
Chinese streaming platforms taking over SE Asian markets
Aug 25, 2020 – The Southeast Asian streaming industry has seen considerable changes this last year as Chinese streaming services have been taking over a large part of viewers and investing in local content, according to Dataxis.
News categories: Dataxis, Cambodia, Digital TV, Indonesia, Malaysia, Market Research, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Streaming, Thailand, Vietnam
- ViacomCBS and Altice USA renew distribution agreement
- OTT now at 82% consumer saturation in the U.S.
- MultTV and MwareTV launch multi-tenant TV as a Service in Brazil
- discovery+ now available on LG Smart TVs in the U.S.
- HBO Max to be available at Telia from October 26
- Tata Sky expands quality and availability monitoring with DataMiner
- Slow recovery in European pay TV revenues expected
- Share of smart TVs and UHD TVs in Germany continues to grow
- Vewd enables Smart TV for pay TV operators with Vestel
- LG brings more content to third-party TVs powered by webOS
- 70% of audiences reached via streaming are not reachable via linear
- t4h. Android TV remote control for SKY Brasil
- ATEME joins Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program
- discovery+ to launch in Canada on October 19
- LiveRamp launches enhanced TV platform
- Comscore enables deduplicated ad campaigns on YouTube and YouTube TV
- Four Hartford TV stations launch NEXTGEN TV
- Vestel rolls out Red Bull TV app to Smart TVs across Europe
- Viaccess-Orca powers Vialis hybrid DTT/OTT service
- TalkTalk selects Netgem for launch of 4K TV service


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PepsiCo, a multinational food, snacks, and beverages company, recently announced an investment of USD 550 million in energy drinks maker- Celsius Holdings. The investment forms a part of a long-term distribution deal with Celsius.
Through this deal, Celsius is anticipating garnering more shelf space amongst existing retailers and seeking expansion into independent stores like gas stations. Meanwhile, PepsiCo would support the product distribution soon.
Reports suggest that PepsiCo’s investment in the energy maker translates to a minority share of 8.5% in the company. Furthermore, the firm would also nominate a director to serve on Celsius’ board.
For the record, Celsius reported an explosive growth in its energy drinks sales during the pandemic, with the US revenue reaching $123.5 million, depicting a 217% hike in the first quarter. The company’s drinks include ingredients like green tea, ginger, and no artificial sugar or preservatives. Celsius claims that its beverages boast of thermogenic properties enabling the consumers to burn calories and enhance metabolism.
According to official sources, the agreement would help PepsiCo strengthen its ties to energy drinks. The segment is one of the fastest growing drinks segments outside alcohol, and the company has been doubling down on energy in recent years as soda consumption has drastically fallen.
Speaking of the latest partnership by PepsiCo, the company announced collaboration with Vital Pharmaceuticals’ Bang Energy of late, via an exclusive distribution agreement. However, the deal was taken down in June this year, paving way for the company to seek acquisition of other energy brands to expand its market share in the energy drinks category.
Post this news, the shares of Celsius closed at 11%, bringing its market valuation to USD 7.45 billion.


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Export to Spain jumps by 21.40pc in past fiscal
Merchandise export to Spain from Bangladesh jumped by 21.40 per cent in the past fiscal year.
Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed that the export to that country reached at 2.45 billion in FY18 which was $2.02 billion in FY17.
As Spain is a member of European Union (EU), its market access benefit for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), including Bangladesh, is equivalent to that in the EU.
The EU has the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) under which it grants duty free access for the LDCs under its “Everything but Arms (EBA)” scheme.
The EBA provides for granting duty-free quota-free access to the LDCs for the latter’s all products, except for arms and ammunitions, covering 99 per cent of all tariff lines.
The Ready-made garment (RMG) is a major item of exports to Spain. In the past fiscal year, Bangladesh exported woven garments worth $0.83 billion and knit garments worth $1.05 billion.


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Triller Looks to De-Throne TikTok
App giant TikTok faces opponents on all sides as politicians and tech rivals alike look to topple the reigning king
App giant TikTok faces opponents on all sides as politicians and tech rivals alike look to topple the reigning king from it’s throne. Triller, an app that allows users to perform and use the app to edit and share their work, has lured away some of TikTok’s biggest stars, and has signed on with some huge names in the music industry as well.
What is Triller?
Triller is an app that launched originally in 2015 as, “a game-changing music video maker app.” In the beginning, Triller provided lip-sync and editing software that users could share on other social media platforms. But in 2016, the app altered it’s function to allow for it’s own internal sharing, and functions similarly to TikTok. Users can create, edit, and share their work directly within the app. More recently, huge artists and executives in the music industry have signed on to partner with Triller, and some artists have agreed to produce exclusive content. Artists like The Weeknd, Marshmello, Snoop Dogg,Tyga, Lil Wayne, the late Juice WORLD, T.I., and Kendrick Lamar will all have exclusive partner content for users to access.
Why are big music names getting involved?
Forbes reports, “Bobby Sarnevesht, Executive Chairman of TRILLER and partner at Proxima Media, which manages TRILLER, commented on the app’s growing role in the industry, saying ‘TRILLER has been attributed as the source leading to more Platinum and Gold records than any other social platform.’
With the app, users can make music videos to a wide variety of tracks streamed for free via TRILLER’s licensing partnerships with studios like Warner Music Group, Universal and Sony Music Entertainment. These partnerships with studios allow users to make and share their own videos without worrying about incurring licensing fees, legal issues and other technicalities.
‘With TRILLER, we’re trying to create a wholesome ecosystem for the music world, so we created social streaming to benefit everyone in the system,’ Sarnevesht said.”
With users having such personal and easy access to the content produced by their favorite artists, it’s easy to see why so many are eager to be involved. It’s not just artists who are signing on, either. Industry giants like Marshmello’s manager, Moe Shalizi, and former manager for the late Avicii, Ash Pournouri, have also opted to invest in and partner with the up-and-coming app titan.
Who is winning the battle between TikTok and Triller?
Right now the answer is resoundingly Triller. Not only is TikTok facing political woes as President Donald J Trump issued an executive order to ban the app amidst alleged security concerns, but Triller began dominating in app downloads. Triller jumped to the number 1 downloaded iPhone app on August 1st. On August 2nd, Triller released a statement discussing their success, which said in part, “Triller has reached an unprecedented milestone today, ranking #1 in all categories in the app store in 50 countries including the United States, Australia, France, Great Britain, Italy, and almost every major country in which it is available. This ranks Triller ahead of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat and every other app.”
Sudden success for the 5-year-old app
With the COVID-19 pandemic on the rise, users are looking for new ways to interact with the internet and with one another. They have sought new methods of entertainment, and apps like TikTok and Triller have risen to the challenge. But with TikTok facing an uncertain future, Triller’s user-friendly and broadly appealing style has caught the attention of not just music industry giants; social media stars are also signing on for a ride to success. Sway House alum and TikTok superstars Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson, Noah Beck, and Anthony Reeves have all decided to leave TikTok and exclusively produce content for Triller, citing security concerns according the Los Angeles Times. They’re also on Triller’s payroll now. Richards will be acting as the chief strategy officer, while Beck, Griffin, and Reeves will be both investors and equity shareholders.
TikTok move over, Triller’s the king
With all numbers pointing to growing success for Triller and TikTok trying to hold on as uncertainty broils for the Chinese-company-owned app, it seems like there’s a new king on the throne. While loyal content producers and users may currently be sticking with their TikTok accounts, if TikTok can’t strike a deal with an American-based company to purchase them, soon the app will be out of reach for users in the US. With that sort of yawning void on the horizon, Triller has the perfect opportunity to cement itself as the new face of entertainment in the landscape of pandemic-era US.


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This week a big merci goes out to two French fashion heavyweights for banning size zero models and the use of girls under 16 modeling in fashion shows that are meant to represent adults.
The two fashion groups LVMH and Kering, which own Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Céline, and Kenzo among many other high end fashion labels, are responding to the growing problem of how women, young and old, perceive their bodies. By creating a charter to “ensure the well-being of models,” they are putting the health of their mannequins, and therefore their easily influenced young fans, above their profit margin.
Where are all the middle-aged models?
We can only hope that the groups, who unveiled their new code of practice on the eve of New York Fashion Week, can become trend-setters for all the right reasons. At a time when the fashion industry is under heavy scrutiny for apparently encouraging anorexia and eating disorders, these well-known fashion houses are actually listening. By taking such measures, François-Henri Pinault, who is Kering’s CEO as well as husband to actress Selma Hayek, is hoping others in the fashion industry will follow their lead.
The move comes at a time when the French government has been addressing these “unrealistic body images.” Just in the last year, a new law was passed banning the use of unhealthily thin models. If a woman wants to work in the industry she must provide a doctor’s certificate stipulating that she has a healthy BMI. And it doesn’t stop there: magazines in France are also legally obliged to declare if any published photos of a model have been either retouched or photoshopped; failure to do so could result in a hefty $42,000 fine.
Parents everywhere will be relieved that their daughters will no longer be exposed to too-often emaciated young women who look in dire need of a burger, or five, staring out sultrily — and unhappily — from their favorite magazine pages. Of course, some women are born naturally thin, but it shouldn’t be something impressionable young girls (and older women) aspire to in order to feel good about themselves. What should be at the forefront of these magazines are models who look healthy and happy, with no pressure to be something, or someone, they are not.
So now let’s hope followers of fashion sit up and copy the example of these two influential French fashion houses. As the grande dame of fashion, Coco Chanel, once said: “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” Nowhere did she mention size.


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- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is the biggest treat left for this year as far as new, exclusive, rip-roaring releases are concerned.
- It’s the sequel to the incredibly well-received Marvel’s Spider-Man that made landfall in 2018 for the PlayStation 4. Now, the latter’s available on PC and PlayStation 5 as well.
- As the action-adventure title nears its official release in October, new in-game screenshots have been revealed, detailing some of the prominent landmarks of New York.
- The game will be released on October 20, 2023, for the PlayStation 5 exclusively, with no PlayStation 4 version in the cards.
The anticipation for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 this time around is seemingly through the roof. Being the sequel to the mega-popular Marvel’s Spider-Man — which launched for the PlayStation 4 back in 2018 –Sony has kept things current-gen only with the next iteration in the franchise. And if you’ve been waiting impatiently as much as us for the title, here are some of its new screenshots that Sony has pushed out in recent times (thanks The New York Times).
The Spider-Men look all geared up to take down New York’s toughest baddies, not to mention that the sequel is going to feature some high-class juggernauts as well—Venom and Kraven the Hunter, not to mention a bevy of other supervillains as well whom we haven’t met yet, obviously. As per Peter Parker’s VA Yuri Lowenthal, “You’ve seen nothing yet. We’ve just scratched the surface.”
Those are pretty strong words coming from the protagonist of the forthcoming masterpiece (yes, called it already). Anyhow, New York is looking better than ever in Spider-Man 2. The Times Square, one of the most monumental areas of the region, is lit up with life apparently, but will eventually be disrupted by a raging villain bursting through, although with our favorite web swinger following right behind.
It bears noticing though that the Chrysler Building, another one of New York’s prized possessions, won’t be featured in the sequel. A copyright challenge dating back to 2020 led to this hassle for the first time at the onset of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales—a standalone expansion of the original Spider-Man. Evidently, the issue still hasn’t been resolved, thus the omission of the landmark from the upcoming title.
Aside from the obvious appeal, there’s a lot to be excited about, looking at the things that are going to be at play in the game. First off, the combat speed will be adjustable, as noted by the title’s official listing on the PlayStore Store, and there have been rumors circulating the internet that hint at the possibility of Venom potentially being a playable character. Wonder how that’s going to be if true.
Additionally, there’s no questioning how much hype Spider-Man 2 has amassed for its release in late October. When the gameplay footage of the forthcoming action-adventure title aired at the end of the PlayStation Showcase, multiple videos of the whole segment were uploaded to YouTube afterward. Those videos collectively raked in 20 million views, hinting at just how much folks are excited for the sequel.
And for those who missed it, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be twice as big as its predecessor. Sitting down in an interview with Famitsu, Bryan Intihar, the Creative Director of the game, confirmed that we’re in for a massive treat with the sequel. Expect a map that’s about two times as big as the first Marvel’s Spider-Man.
We’ve added Queens and Brooklyn this time, so roughly speaking, the map size is about two times larger than the previous titles. Since these two areas are somewhat smaller and residential, I think you’ll find them different from Manhattan. We’ve prepared some unexpected situations we haven’t done before, like a battle on the river between two of the cities, so I hope you’ll look forward to them.”
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The company is reviewing informal bids. A sale could take longer than the group’s “carve-out.”
But the timing of the “legal separation” does not necessarily equate to that of the sale of the division, which could take longer, Osram clarified.
“We have received several non-binding offers and are in discussions with potential buyers,” Berlien told analysts during today’s call to discuss results for the 2016 first quarter, ended Dec. 31.
Two weeks ago Berlien had said that Osram expected “the first indication of offers” within days. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2016/01/osram-ceo-pushes-digital-services-beyond-lighting.html
In response to a question from Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Kai Mueller, Berlien did not say when he thought Osram would complete the sale of the division.
“We are in the very early stage — we just received the first, the non-binding offers,” he said, adding that due diligence will follow and that “I would expect something late spring where we have a better visibility of where we are.” He did not identify the bidders. The company received an informal offer from China’s Shanghai Feilo Acoustic last July.
Osram says it is still on track to complete an “organizational separation” of lamps by April 1, and a “legal separation” by July 1.
In the April organizational separation, lamps will have its own dedicated personnel — for example, in areas like treasury and public relations, an Osram spokesperson told LEDs Magazine. By July the group would become a separate legal entity. At that point, it will start going by the name LEDVANCE, and Osram will have completed the “carve-out” of the division.
But the sale is on a separate timing.
Like rival lighting giant Philips, Munich-based Osram is seeking to sell off lamps as lighting moves to the new technology and business models of LED light sources, which in principle last for decades and thus deprive vendors of replacement sales.
Venerable lighting vendors like Osram, Philips, and GE are moving away from bulb sales and relying more on selling lighting-related services. (Some observers expect GE might try to sell its traditional lighting operations following its decision last fall to move commercial and industrial LEDs into a new energy services group called Current, as our sister publication Lux has reported).
Two weeks ago, for instance, Osram outlined plans to strengthen its services-oriented Lighting Solutions and Systems division (LSS), with Berlien saying that it would consider acquiring companies in that area. As part of its LSS push, Osram will broaden into non-illumination aspects of LED and related sensors, such as using LEDs to transmit wireless data in a Wi-Fi-like scheme called Li-Fi.
Unlike Philips, Osram also remains strongly committed to its LED chip division, called Osram Opto Semiconductors, which sells LEDs to lamp manufacturers and other entities. In November Osram announced plans to build a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) chip plant in Malaysia.
Philips is selling its Lumileds chip group, an effort that recently faltered when US regulators blocked a sale of the division to a consortium led by China’s GO Scale Capital.
Meanwhile, Osram reported that 2016’s first quarter group revenue rose 6% from the same quarter a year ago to €1.48 billion ($1.64 billion). Net income improved to €338 million ($375 million), compared to a loss last year of €39 million ($43.3 million). Lamp revenue fell 1.6% to €537 million ($596 million) and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (adjusted EBITA) fell about 5%, to €53 million ($58.8 million).
Traditional lamp revenue declined 13%, while LED lamp revenue grew by 20% and made up a 27% share in the lamps group, up from 21% a year ago, Osram chief financial officer Klaus Patzak said.
MARK HALPERis a contributing editor for LEDs Magazine, and an energy, technology, and business journalist ([email protected]).


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A typical technical support scam works like this:
1. A user receives a phone call, claiming to come from Microsoft or your ISP, claiming that a security problem has been found on their network or computer.
One trick fraudster may use to gain a less technically savvy user’s confidence by tricking them into looking for error messages in Windows Event Viewer’s logs.
In fact, such entries are completely harmless and should not be considered evidence of a malware infection.
2. The scammer tricks their intended victim into giving them remote access to the user’s computer in order to “fix” the issue. In truth, they install a remote access trojan (RAT).
3.The scammer claims to have identified fake “threats” on the victim’s computer and scares the user into handing over their payment details or making an online purchase to “fix” the computer.
Usually, the scammer will present the situation as urgent and be requiring immediate action in order to prevent their intended victim from checking with a tech-savvy friend or relative.
In some cases, the scam will begin with the user seeing bogus security alerts on their computer, which urge them to “call support” for advice.
New statistics published by Microsoft reveal that the number of complaints its own customer services team have received about tech support scams has risen 24% since 2016, with some 153,000 reports from 183 different countries around the world.
15% of the complainants admitted that they have lost cash to the scammers, losing between $200 and $400 on average. The financial losses can be much higher, however. One report received by Microsoft in December 2017 detailed a scammer who had drained a bank account belonging to a victim in the Netherlands to the tune of 89,000 Euros (US $108,000).
The problem isn’t limited to Windows desktop PCs – all manner of devices and operating systems have been targeted, including mobile platforms and Apple Macs – but I think it is fair to say that most commonly the callers do claim to be calling from Microsoft, or on behalf of a company working with Microsoft.
Microsoft is itself at pains to point out that it does not send unsolicited email messages or make unsolicited phone calls offering to fix computers, or requesting personal or financial information.
It simply isn’t in the business of proactively reaching out to people to offer them technical support.
In a similar vein, a genuine Microsoft error message or security warning will never include a phone number. So don’t ring it!
This is all fairly simple advice for you and me to follow, and I’d like to think that if you’re reading my blog, you’re already more security-savvy than the typical computer user.
But don’t forget that even though you may not be duped by technical support calls like those described in this article, it’s perfectly possible that you know somebody elderly or vulnerable who could be fooled. Always be on the lookout on their behalf, be sure to warn them about “friendly” unsolicited technical support calls as they could be the next to fall victim.
If you believe you have been on the receiving end of a technical support scam you can report it to Microsoft via an online form at www.microsoft.com/reportascam
If you do not currently have a cybersecurity solution in place, then I recommend BitDefender. This is the product that I use myself, and I also offer managed BitDefender GravityZone solutions to clients.


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BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- D.R. Horton Inc. DHI, -1.21% before Friday's opening bell reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $231.9 million, or 73 cents a share, compared with $799.9 million, or $2.53 a share, in the year-ago period. The Ft. Worth, Texas-based home builder said the latest quarter's results included $192.6 million in pretax charges related to inventory and land. Home-building revenue for the September quarter dropped to $1 billion from $1.8 billion in the same quarter the previous year. D.R. Horton shares are up 73% for the year-to-date period.
D.R. Horton's quarterly loss narrows


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By now, most of us are well aware of the threat posed by hackers and scammers. But that doesn’t stop them from attempting new and more sophisticated ways to attack businesses and individuals. Just in July of this year, Twitter was breached and hackers took over user accounts—including Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Bill Gates and other celebrities. They posted fake tweets offering $2,000 in exchange for sending $1,000 in Bitcoin to an unknown account. Around 300 people sent over $100,000 in Bitcoin.
The mastermind was a 17-year-old from Florida. The method of attack was a phishing scam targeting Twitter employees. Yes, even a tech company, with savvy employees, is vulnerable to phishing.
In response to the attack, Twitter stated, “The social engineering that occurred on July 15, 2020, targeted a small number of employees through a phone spear phishing attack. A successful attack required the attackers to obtain access to both our internal network as well as specific employee credentials that granted them access to our internal support tools. Not all of the employees that were initially targeted had permissions to use account management tools, but the attackers used their credentials to access our internal systems and gain information about our processes.”
Attacks Ramp Up During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Phishing scams are typically launched via text, email or phone. It’s often an urgent, fear-based message. A new device has logged into your Gmail account. There was a large purchase on your Amazon account. Billing information for your Netflix account can’t be validated. These messages may ask you to go to a spoofed website then enter your password, credit card numbers and other personal information.
Nobody wants to get ripped off, much less lose access to Netflix! So without a thought, you immediately click through to the website and enter whatever information you’re asked for without thinking twice. And if you use the same password across multiple websites, the damage is massive. Scammers can use this data to unlock your entire internet universe, including bank accounts, credit cards, and even gain access to your company’s network and data. Just like the Twitter scammers (see above).
While these types of attacks have been around for a while, the pandemic has made matters even worse.
People are more dependent on the internet to make purchases, from groceries to clothing to household supplies. Contactless online ordering from restaurants is more common. We’re signing up for more accounts and apps, many of us using the same password. Phishing attacks have also used the pandemic to snare new targets. One scam is a text that appears to come from the Department of Health and Human Services, asking you to register for COVID-19 testing due to possible exposure.
Fighting Phishing Attacks and Protecting Your Business
Scammers are never going to stop, so it’s up to individuals and businesses to never let their guard down and continually educate themselves on recognizing a scam. At NFINIT, we can put your people to the test and provide training if needed.
Meanwhile, there are a few tips we can pass along that can help you prevent issues, especially with common email phishing scams:
- If an email sends you to a website and requires you to re-enter a password or confirm billing information, roll over the link and take a good look at the URL. If it’s not familiar, don’t click on it. Reach out to the company to confirm that they sent the message or report the scam.
- When in doubt, use your own bookmarks or manually enter the website URL asked about in the email. This ensures you are going to the correct site – even if you change your password there as a precautionary step, you are not being caught by a phishing attempt that had a nefarious link.
- Take a look at the email address of the sender, not just the display name. If it’s Netflix or PayPal or Amazon, it will use their domain name (e.g. firstname.lastname@example.org).
- Ask employees to use a password manager which generates complex and unique passwords for websites and keeps them in an encrypted database, locked behind a master password or PIN. If one password is stolen, you are no longer susceptible to it being used to gain access to other sites or your business.
Phishing scammers often send their emails under the name of a company executive, baiting employees to open it.
Most importantly, ask employees to speak up if they suspect that an email is a phishing scam. They should forward it to your IT department (NFINIT can help there, too) so that it can be dealt with properly and reported. Awareness is your first line of defense. If that’s not working, we’re here to help.
Can you spot scam emails?
You can test yourself with the Sophos Spot the Phish Quiz, then see how your score stacks up against others. NFINIT is a Sophos Gold Partner and often includes Sophos Phish Threat in NFINIT network security solutions.
Denis Savage, VP of Operations at NFINIT, is responsible for operational support across the company’s entire IT space and leads cloud, disaster recovery, and network practices.
Vice President of Operations
Denis is responsible for operational support across the company’s entire IT space.


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It’s been a month since Apple released their latest iPhone 13 Series, but information about the series is still circulating.
According to the information released about the new iPhone 13 series, 4 phones will be launched under this. The phones are expected to be known as iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. It is also reported that Apple is hoping to give a new feature to the iPhone users through this iPhone 13 Series. That is the Always On Display feature.
The new iPhone 13 Series will be powered by Apple’s latest A15 chipset and will reportedly have a 120Hz Refresh Rate display for the series.


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Barilla Pasta refuses to use gay people in their advertising and a flippant remark about using another brand if this doesn’t sit right with you, might have started a move to another pasta for a lot of folks. According to ABC News on Sept. 26, the president of Barilla Pasta said in an interview for Italian radio that his pasta is for the traditional family and that gay people can eat another pasta if they don’t like this message.
Of course gay people didn’t like this message, and neither did many straight people. A new post boycotting Barilla on Twitter has all types of folks signing up for this whether they are gay or not. It is more about the discrimination than it is about the pasta today.
Aurelio Mancuso, president of Equality Italia said that “We accept his invitation to not eat Barilla Pasta. It didn’t take long for Guido Barilla, Barilla Pasta president, to take to the online world to apologize profusely for what he had said. He didn’t mean it. Barilla wrote:
"With reference to remarks made yesterday to an Italian radio program, I apologize if my words have generated controversy or misunderstanding, or if they hurt someone's sensitivity. In the interview I simply wished to underline the central role the woman plays within the family."
Barilla also said:
“I have the utmost respect for gay people and for everyone’s right to express themselves. I’ve also said—and I would like to reiterate—that I respect gay marriages.”
He went on to explain it was about advertising and how the company represents the family, so that is the point of view that his original comment was coming from.
That’s all well and fine, but families with two moms or two dads aren’t the “traditional” family of decades ago, but they are the families of the present and future. This might work against the Barilla Pasta Company's sales, especially since the grocery stores have more than enough brands to offer customers besides Barilla.